Hi again folks
Thanks for sticking by me. I'm sorry for not posting too regularly recently but life's a bummer and has to rear its ugly head just when you were getting into the swing.
Still, I'm back and the old engine is up and puffing and it is time to let off some steam.


While I was doing some bedtime reading I found this insight that I've never really thought about but seemingly thoroughly understand:

    "There are secrets in music and poetry. Secrets few knew and even fewer understood. Their power often stole into a listener subtle as the memory of scent on a drawn breath, less than a whisper, yet capable of transforming the one gifted, an instinctual ecstasy that made troubles vanish, that made all manner of grandeur possible - indeed within reach..."

    I have probably got the wrong end of the stick with this one but I think that he is saying that poetry and music do not have to be blunt instruments that we, as the authors use to ram our message into our readers' forebrains but more like acupuncture needles that pierce the thick "skin" of our conscious minds and alter the pathways beneath to allow our older, more primitive brains to receive and react.
    The same author goes onto say:

    "A skilled storyteller, a wise storyteller knows that at certain moments in the course of a cycle of a day and night, the path into the soul of a listener was smooth, unobstructed, a succession of massive gates that swung open to a feather's touch. This was the most precious secret of all. Dusk, midnight and that strange period of sudden wakefulness known as the watch - yes, the night and its stealthy approach belonged to the heart"
(Reproduced without permission - Steven Erikson "Toll the Hounds" pp 553)

    That has to be some of the truest fictional writing I've ever read. It must be why ghost stories work so well as the sun dies or the moon coats all with its glistening light.

    Could it be possible that make up poems and break up poems can be easier to write at certain times of the day?
    Dawn, the rising of the sun, the new day could be a brilliant time to write a life-affirming make-up poem. A new day, a new love life, a new you ??
    The same could be said of dusk, the drawing down and out of the evening light, the increase in the darkness, the reducing temperature could very well mirror the ending of a relationship, the cooling of the fires between you, the specter of a time coming, alone and lonely.

    Can that be turned over..would the best time to end a relationship be the first thing on a sunny morning when the warmth outdoors could thaw the resulting ice in the heart? The making-up done in the evening when companionship holds back the encroaching, perceived fears of the night?

    Even further.. end a relationship on a Sunday morning, make-up on a Friday night? Finish with them in the Spring and mend in the Winter?

    Hmmm.. worth a thought isn't it?

I found this story out there on the 'Net while trawling around for material for a new post and something about it really struck a chord with me:

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife opening a package.
"What's in there? I'm betting it's food!" the mouse thought.
He was devastated to see it was a mousetrap!

Running into the farmyard in a panic, the mouse shouted out a warning
"There's a mousetrap in the house! OMG! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said gravely,
"Mr.Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."
The mouse turned to the pig and told him,
"There is a mousetrap in the house! OMG there is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said,
"I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."
The mouse turned to the cow and said
"Help! Help me! There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said,
"Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but, to be honest it's no skin off my nose."
The mouse went back inside, thoroughly dejected by his fellow farm-dwellers responses, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house:
"SNICK"
The sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife, filled with joy, rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a rattlesnake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer's wife.
The farmer rushed her to the hospital , and she returned home with a fever. Now, everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient. But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer's wife did not get well, sadly she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had to slaughter the cow to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the moral of this story is?

Next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We are all involved in this journey we call life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

Have a great weekend

Peace

John

So, you've found that special person online. You've chatted in the chatroom, you've flirted in the forums and you've imagined via Instant Messaging but how do you get them gagging to hear from you again. How do you get them to actually look forward to another contact from you?
 
Here are six tips on digital activities that you and your new cyberfriend can share:

1) Comments 2) Recipes 3) Greeting cards 4) Online Auctions 5) Fashion
and
6) Listening.

Comments:
No matter who we are we all like to know that we look good. We know that all there is between us is 2 computers and a gazillion miles of cable but it is still nice to be told that we look good. How can we find out? By asking questions that's how. What clothes do we like? What hairstyles do we like? Glasses or contacts? Heels or flats? Once we have the answers we can build up a picture of our cyberbuddy. Just don't forget to say how attractive or handsome they must look.

!! WARNING !!
Do not get too personal here! You can lose online friends a lot quicker and easier than you may realize. Just go easy.

Another section you can share is those random acts of kindness that you've both done or seen..whether it was helping a person out or something you saw on the news or read in the papers.
So by showing kindness, being mannerly and keeping your language under control you can show that you are an upbeat and positive person (a good point in all respects !)

Recipes:
Once you've talked about the weather and grown bored with it; the next most popular (and safest) option is food. Sharing your favorite cooking styles, recipes and restaurants is a sure way of breaking the ice. You could swap links to your favorite cooking sites, or even take photos of your latest creation and share them through online photo galleries.
 
Greeting Cards:
This may sound a strange thing to share digitally as most "cards" come by snail mail. But it is an excellent way to say "Thanks for the chat". There are lots of sites where you can make a totally unique card that you can send electronically. Making something shows the recipient that you've taken the time to think of them and you've put some effort into creating something just for them.
Here'a a link to 1 of the many sites out there that you could use (and it is free!):
Online Greeting Cards - Thank You

Auctions:
Online auction sites sell almost anything and everything. Use the site's search function to find items that go back to special dates for you and your buddy such as birthdays, anniversaries or schooldays. A great gift could be a digital copy of a newspaper from your friend's birth day.
This is a link to just about the most famous of auction websites and I have just used "newspaper" as the search term - feel free to use any search term you want:
Online Auction  - Newspaper

Fashion:
Fashionistas and fashion always create opinions. Opinions create discussion and those discussions bring us closer together.
If you have a keen eye for fashion..or you just wanna LOL at those without, then check out:
The Fashion Police

Listening:
Listening is different online to offline. Basically it means "Paying Attention". Read your prospective date's profile then talk to them about it. That shows that you've gone beyond their photograph and you are eager to know more about them. Don't be long-winded on your replies as nobody likes a gasbag but then again don't be the "strong and silent" type; you are going to have to strike a happy medium.

OK ... Well I hope those 6 tips get you that all-important "call-back" and if they have then don't hesitate to leave a message on the main site as to which one worked for you so all of us can benefit.

Peace, love and happiness

John